The Republic of Vietnam, 1955-1975: Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building

The Republic of Vietnam, 1955-1975: Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building

Editors: Tuong Vu and Sean Fear

Cornell Southeast Asia Publications, Cornell University Press, 2020

This book presents the testimonies of 14 prominent figures who reminisced on their hard work and illustrious careers that helped build the Republic of Vietnam and make it thrive during a brutal war. These figures include government officials, military commanders, educators, artists, journalists and writers, and their unique perspectives greatly enrich our understanding of important political, security, economic, social and cultural developments of postcolonial noncommunist South Vietnam. 

Some of the important questions discussed in the book are: How was economic sovereignty transferred from France to the Republic of Vietnam in its early days? How did South Vietnam cope with the enormous economic and security challenges of Vietnamization? How could South Vietnam achieve such a widely acclaimed success in its land reform in the early 1970s? How did the modern and dynamic educational system of South Vietnam emerge? What did the war look like from the eyes of a young female South Vietnamese war correspondent? How did Saigon journalists struggle to defend freedom of the press? How did the successful cinema industry in South Vietnam develop from scratch? How much freedom did South Vietnamese writers enjoy and what hardship did they face under communist rule after the death of the Republic? 

Despite being the legitimate government of South Vietnam during 1955-1975, the Republic of Vietnam has been demonized and neglected in much historical scholarship. Yet the Republic was a major player in the conflict and any history of the Vietnam War worth its name must take it seriously.  Scholars and students of the Vietnam War will have much to appreciate from this book. Vietnamese or those of Vietnamese heritage will read the book and come away with an understanding of modern Vietnamese history that most other books on the subject cannot offer. 

Praises:

“This valuable collection includes perspectives that have been consistently overlooked in the historiography of the War. Readers are afforded not only South Vietnamese perspectives, but also those of civil servants, soldiers, police officers, educators, writers, artists, and journalists. This is also one of the few works in which South Vietnamese women’s voices are heard.”

Van Nguyen-Marshall, Trent University

“The Republic of Vietnam is a primer and a demand for a more comprehensive, Vietnamese-written works of history…Thanks to Tuong Vu and Sean Fear’s efforts, the thoughts, impressions, and words of these pivotal individuals in South Vietnamese history have been preserved.”

Diacritics

TABLE OF CONTENTS